Dancing Into Descension
by Karnia
Summary: Sizumi Mikazuki had run for a hundred years from the memories that lay just behind her eyes; she could see the blood-covered scenes whenever she closed them. Kana Mikazuki had been running from the terrible creature that crawled just underneath her skin for less than fifty. Neither of them were ready to go home, nor to face what waited there. Byakuya X OC & Renji X OC X Toshirou


_**Dancing Into Descension**_

_**Chapter One:**_

Every muscle in her body was on fire and her lungs seared as if they had been dropped in a pot of bumbling acid, but she couldn't stop moving; she couldn't afford to. She forced her legs forwards, one after another and continued her draining pace in the direction away from the Shinigami; she would not be caught. She wouldn't ever go back.

"_Rukia's back there,"_ her conscious whispered, but her sense for self-preservation didn't care. She didn't spare a thought about turning back to save the girl who was already going to die; there was nothing else she could do for her.

"_Ichigo,"_ it tried. She definitely would never turn back for him; trying to help him would insure her return and her entrance into a prison-cell; she didn't want to go back, she was free in the world of the living. Rukia may have been willing to pay that price, but she was not. No, Ichigo would receive no help from her.

Suddenly, someone was in front of her.

"Stop!" the red-head shouted loudly.

"Be gone!" she hissed in return as she forced her legs to stop moving and came halting to a stop five feet in front of him.

"Sorry, I have orders to bring you back," he said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be chasing after someone else?" she snarled.

"She is already in custody, now I'm back for you," the man said as a large grin spread across his face.

"Don't make me kill you," she hissed as she widened her stance and tried to look threatening despite being in a gigai that restricted her spiritual pressure to almost nothing and made her look like a ditsy teenager, which was far from the reality of her appearance.

"Come on and try!"

The wind blew between them and she found herself contemplating on how to kill the red-head quickly without making much of a scene and alerting any other Shinigami in the area to her presence; it was a cold and silent night, it would not take much for the sounds of battle to travel all throughout Karakura Town.

"I will not honour the likes of you by drawing my blade; in fact, I won't even leave this gigai," she said as she narrowed her eyes. "Hado number thirty-three: Sokatsui!"

The red-head jumped to the side to dodge the large blast of spiritual energy and the woman took this as the perfect opportunity to run; she turned to her side and began to speed in the new direction. That's when she noticed that the red-head had brought a friend.

Upon the site of Byakuya Kuchiki, everything inside her began to squirm and she felt physically ill; she knew she could not beat or outrun him when she had gone years without serious training. Shinigami became rusty when they strayed too long in the world of the living, it was common knowledge.

"Head Captain Yamamoto ordered me to capture her, sir," the red-head said as he ran towards Kuchiki.

"Renji, why have you not informed me of this until this very moment?" Byakuya asked as he directed his eyes towards Renji.

"He ordered me to keep it to myself, sir," Renji replied.

"Get out of my way!" the woman yelled as she brought her pointer and middle finger to her forehead and made her gigai fall to the ground.

A flash of recognition flickered in Byakuya's eyes for barely a moment and then he looked back at his subordinate to address his inquiry.

"I see…"

"Stand down, Sizumi Mikazuki!" Renji shouted loudly as he drew his Zanpakutou and held it level to her neck.

"No, I will never go back," Sizumi whispered as she drew her Zanpakutou and focused her eyes on her first target; no matter the cost, she had to at least try and escape.

Before she could utter her sword's name, Byakuya had disappeared from in front of her and then she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head; his shun-po had always been fast, but she learned her eyes had also grown lazy in the time she had been away, she hadn't even seen him move.

Sizumi Mikazuki's eyes began to slide closed and before she understood what had happened, she was falling.

…

"Urahara!"

The blond-man looked up and saw that the girl he had called had finally arrived back at the shop.

"You said something happened to Sizumi when you called?" she asked in an urgent tone. Her eyes fell down to his side and she noticed a ginger-haired man lying on a futon. "What happened to Ichigo?"

"They came to get Rukia," Urahara explained as he looked down at Ichigo, "and did this when he tried to stop them."

"And Sizumi?"

"There is no sign of her, Kana," Urahara replied as he looked back up at the chestnut-haired girl, "but that doesn't mean she has been caught. She could have gotten enough distance, like she had hoped."

"But there is also a huge chance that she was caught, yes?" Kana asked as she focused her large jade-eyes on Urahara.

"Yeah, I guess we can't rule out that," Urahara replied.

"I want to go there and look!" Kana demanded. "She's my sister!"

"What if she turns out to be here?" Urahara asked. "You could very well end up stuck there. If you remember correctly, they didn't exactly want you to give you a pardon in the first place."

"But I have a feeling she was caught," Kana said as she looked at the clock on the wall. "It's three in the morning; she would have made contact already if she was okay, Urahara!"

"Kana, you have not finished you training," the man said as his eyes became obscured by the shadow of his hat.

"I want to go anyways," Kana said strongly. "I know enough to keep it under control. We both know that."

Urahara sighed and then looked towards Ichigo with a thoughtful expression worn on his face.

"Rukia Kuchiki was captured and I am worried about her safety…if Sizumi is there, perhaps you could get word to me what's going to happen to her," Urahara said as he looked towards the clock as well.

Kana looked towards the floor.

"I think we already know the answer to that, Kisuke…" Kana uttered.

"Then maybe you can help," Urahara said as he looked her in the eyes; his own green ones glittered with the small fraction of light reflecting in them that had managed to pierce through the shadows of his hat.

"I understand why they took Rukia; she broke the law, but why would they take Sizumi?" Kana said avoiding his request for help.

"I have a feeling they're trying to make her join the Soul Society again; she was a very strong Fukutaichou before she fled and things are starting to get complicated with this whole ordeal with Rukia. They need strength," Urahara said with a shrug.

"Will they hurt her?" Kana asked.

"What is there left to hurt is the real question," Urahara said as he leaned towards Kana. "Don't ever let them know where you are. You are now her weakness; you are what will make her break. If you go there and they capture you, she will do anything. You're all she has left, Kana…that's why I don't think it is a good idea to send you there…"

"But how could they possibly know? Sizumi never even knew that I was her sister until I came here, we have no connection in the Soul Society," Kana said with a frown. "You don't understand; I have to go there because she is all I have left. My whole family, Renji, Rukia, they're all gone. It's just Sizumi and I now…"

"I guarantee that they are not going to harm Sizu-"

"Sizumi this and Sizumi that! What about Rukia? They said she was going to die!"

Kana looked down and realised that Ichigo was awake.

"I'm sorry if I care more about my sister than a girl who broke the law trying to help a moron like you!" Kana hissed as she looked down at him. "Sizumi did nothing but serve them faithfully and now they're dragging her back when she got a pardon from the General Taichou!"

"Who cares about the law? First that Renji guy and now you! Who cares! Rukia was saving my life and the life of everyone in my family!" Ichigo yelled as he looked at her desperately.

"My first priority is my sister," Kana said as she looked away from him. "I'm sorry Ichigo, but I cannot help Sizumi if I get arrested for trying to help Rukia."

"Fine, then I will save her by myself!" Ichigo yelled as he clenched his fists.

"Okay, I give up," Urahara said as he put his hands in the air. "Tomorrow morning, you should head back to the Soul Society using your Zanpakutou. As for you, Ichigo, you're not going anywhere for a while. You need to rest and then train."

"Why does Kana get to go tomorrow?" Ichigo demanded with a glare in Urahara's direction.

"Because she used to be the fourth-seat of division thirteen and is my student," Urahara said as he looked at Ichigo as if he was stupid. "Besides, Kana has the right to go to the Soul Society if she pleases; she was granted a pardon from duty to find her sister. They would even welcome her because they want skilled fighters in their forces. However, you would be considered a Ryoka, an outcast. You would not be welcomed. You need to be able to fight them before you go anywhere; you'd die there."

"That really lifts my spirits…" Ichigo said dully.

"Alright, Urahara I will be back tomorrow morning to gather some supplies and then go through the doorway!" Kana said as she stood up and walked towards the entrance of the room. "Ichigo, if you do end up in the Soul Society and you do anything that would harm my sister or get in my way, I won't hesitate to kill you myself, got it?"

With that, Kana turned and walked out of the Urahara shop and ran towards the apartment she had been living in. She was determined to find her sister.


End file.
